Saltwater Secrets - Amelia Addler Page 0,61

her arms crossed. She had a smile on her face.

Jared appeared on the stage and as soon as he got close to the podium, the microphone squealed. He stepped away, a look of horror coming over his face. He tapped the microphone that was clipped to his chest, the thumping sound echoing through the theater.

He looked up, his face waxen, as Hank and Matthew rushed to his side.

Chapter 24

Jared was whisked away by Chief Hank and Matthew; as they walked off the stage, Matthew shot Jade a smile.

Did he know that she’d set it all up? She hadn’t told him what she was doing; she hadn’t told anyone. Except Toast, but he was good at keeping secrets.

Hopefully she’d have a chance to tell Matthew about it later. It was a legitimate reason to talk to him…and Jade found that she was always looking for those sorts of excuses now.

She made a mental note to bring up her inappropriate feelings for Matthew in her next counseling session. Surely Greta had some technique to make it all go away? She always told Jade that she couldn’t control her feelings, but she could control how she reacted to them. But now it felt like she couldn’t even control that.

Jade tried to focus on the scene in front of her; as she sat on the stage, the volume of the crowd steadily grew. She spotted the other two council members – Frank and Angie – in the far corner of the room. They looked just as stunned as everyone else. According to Eddie, they were not involved in any way – and now Jade believed that to be true. Seeing the shock on their faces helped confirm it.

It took a while for someone to get back to the podium and announce that the question forum would be delayed. It elicited a few groans from the crowd, but before long, people turned to talk amongst themselves and the issue was seemingly forgotten.

Though Jade was disappointed that there wouldn’t be a chance to answer questions, she expected that it might turn out this way. Everyone was still trying to piece together exactly what had happened.

Jade managed to keep her plan with Eddie entirely to herself. She felt guilty not telling her mom or Morgan and Tiffany, but she thought it would be better this way. It was a delicate thing and Jade wasn’t even sure it was going to work – but miraculously, it did.

Part of the success was because Jared couldn’t hide his growing anger. Normally, he was the picture of self-control, framed by a perfect haircut and a tailored suit. Jade knew it’d be rare for him to lose his cool…but he finally did.

The cracks in his demeanor started forming right after she and Morgan finished their presentation, and it got particularly bad following Eric’s lackluster performance. Jared knew that he was at risk of losing, and he was enraged.

It was subtle, but Jade recognized it. She’d become an expert in the slight changes that betrayed a person’s true mood – she had Brandon to thank for that. She’d spent years living on eggshells with him and she knew that even the curve of a brow or the length of a stare meant something.

Once Jared was angry, he moved much more quickly than his normal pace and left the stage. That was the moment she’d been waiting for – that was when Jade sent Eddie in.

And she was right. It worked like a charm. Jared’s momentary lapse in judgment resulted in him taking his anger out on Eddie, and the entire town got to hear it.

It felt good that she finally did something on her own; she didn’t feel helpless anymore.

Before long, her mom joined her on the stage, hands on her hips. “I thought you were kidnapped when I couldn’t find you!”

Jade got up to give her a hug. “I’m fine, Mom. I’m sorry that I worried you. I just had to make sure that Jared’s microphone was still on.”

She pulled away. “So you knew about this?”

“Yeah, you could say that…I knew about it, planned it…”

Her mom gasped. “I can’t believe this! I need to hear everything.”

“I’m happy to tell you all about it,” Jade replied. She couldn’t stop smiling. She didn’t know what Chief Hank would be able to do with the information – maybe nothing – but it didn’t matter. Everyone on the islands now knew what Jared had done. Everyone knew the truth. And that was the most important thing